Cal coxswain Zach Vlahos (third from right) throws out the first pitch at a San Francisco Giants game in 2011, after being honored for Cal's 2010 national title (Photo: B.Kitch)

Last week, USRowing celebrated the role of the coxswain in our sport, with the support of two home-grown Olympic champions in the form of Mary Whipple and Pete Cipollone. In the audio interview below, the dynamic duo outline their current projects—including Whipple's upcoming summer rowing camp at the University of Washington (featuring fellow Olympians Anna Goodale, Lindsay Shoop, Erin Cafaro, and Anna Cummins helping out in the coaches' launch), and Cipollone's new coaching website, instaviser.com (which also involves a few familiar names, not least of which is Adam Kreek)—and reflect on their most significant lessons learned from their time at the highest level of rowing.

While at the time of the interview, the winners of USRowing's #coxieappreciation contest weren't yet known, they have since been announced on the USRowing website. Congrats all!

Coming up next on RR: Our weekly video pick—this one a look inside spring break 2014 with the University of Michigan men's rowing team.